Zhu Yilong

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhu.

Zhu Yilong (Chinese: 朱一龙, born April 16, 1988) is a Chinese actor.^[1][2] He first gained recognition in television series such as Guardian (2018), The Story of Minglan (2018), Reunion: The Sound of the Providence (2020), and The Rebel (2021).

Zhu Yilong
Zhu in 2019
Born	(1988-04-16) April 16, 1988 (age 37) Wuhan, Hubei, China
Alma mater	Beijing Film Academy
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2009–present
Agent(s)	Oriental Feiyun (former), Zhu Yilong Studio
Awards	Best Actor – Golden Rooster Awards 2022 Lighting Up the Stars – Mo Sanmei
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	朱一龙
Traditional Chinese	朱一龍
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhū Yīlóng

Zhu is best known for his performance as Mo Sanmei in the drama film Lighting Up the Stars (2022),^[3] for which he won the Best Actor awards at the 35th Golden Rooster Awards and 37th Hundred Flowers Awards.^[4][5] He continued to star in high-profile films including Lost in the Stars (2022) and Only the River Flows (2023), the latter of which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Zhu is the first Chinese Global Ambassador for World Wildlife Fund since 2019, ^[6] and has been committed to campaigns that raise public awareness of protecting endangered species and promoting biodiversity.

Early life

Zhu Yilong was born in Wuhan, Hubei, on April 16, 1988.^[7][8] His father was a Sanda coach.^[7][8] He graduated from the Beijing Film Academy with a bachelor's degree in performance in 2010.^[8][9][10]

Career

2009–2016: Beginnings at Oriental Feiyun

In 2008, Zhu debuted in the TV film Zai Sheng Yuan as an assassin. He went on to act in several TV films over the following years; such as The Snatched Bride, Blood-Colored Deep Mansion, Curse of the Blood Jade and Terror Eyes. One of his most notable roles in his earlier career is Zhu Changxun in the Da Ming Pin Fei film series;^[11] as well as General Junshi in Legend of the Daming Palace.^[12] He also portrayed a national hero in the war drama Fanjingshan Story,^[13] and played the male lead in the wuxia film Ci Fei and romance comedy film Love Retake.^[14]

In 2014, Zhu first gained recognition for his performance in the period romance drama Love Three Lives, which won him the "Most Anticipated Actor" award at the Asian Influence Awards Oriental Ceremony.^[15][16] In 2015, he gained increased recognition after starring as Ying Ji in the hit historical drama The Legend of Mi Yue.^[17]

In 2016, Zhu starred in wuxia drama The Shaw Eleven Lang, based on the novel of the same name by Gu Long. He played the main antagonist, Lian Chengbi.^[18] Zhu's performance earned him the Best Supporting Actor award at TVS Award Ceremony.^[19] Zhu starred in another adaptation of Gu Long's novel, playing the protagonist in Border Town Prodigal. He received positive reviews for his performance and his popularity rose significantly afterwards.^[20]

2017–2019: Rising popularity

In 2017, Zhu starred alongside Ady An in the romantic comedy drama Royal Sister Returns.^[21] The same year, he starred alongside Aaron Kwok and Zhao Liying in the spy thriller film Eternal Wave.^[22]

In 2018, Zhu starred in the science fiction mystery web drama Guardian, where he played three roles.^[23][24] The series developed a cult following online, leading to a surge in popularity for Zhu.^[25] He won the Popular Actor award at the 2018 Weibo Movie Awards Ceremony.^[9][26] Forbes China listed him under their 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 list which consisted of 30 influential people under 30 years old who have had a substantial effect in their fields.^[27] He then starred in the historical drama The Story of Minglan produced by Daylight Entertainment.^[28] He received positive reviews for his role as wealthy gentleman who is the female lead's first love,^[29] and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award at the Magnolia Awards for his performance.^[30]

In 2019, Zhu appeared in CCTV New Year's Gala for the first time, performing the song and dance item "Youth Rave It Up".^[31] He starred in the workplace romance drama My True Friend as an interior designer,^[32] and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award at the Asian Television Awards.^[33] The same year, he was nominated for the Most Promising Actor award at the China Movie Channel (CCTV-6) M List for his role as a soldier in the film My People, My Country.^[34] For his performance in various works, Zhu was awarded the Best Actor in the Emerald Category at the 6th The Actors of China Award Ceremony.^[35] That year, Zhu ranked 17th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list.^[36]

2020–present: Breakthrough in Zhu Studio

In 2020, Zhu portrayed Wu Xie in the tomb-raiding web series Reunion: The Sound of the Providence, adapted from the Daomu Biji series.^[37] Zhu also sang on three soundtracks for the drama.^[38] The series topped the index charts at iQiyi upon premiere, and received positive reviews. Zhu was praised for his portrayal of Wu Xie.^[39] He is set to star in the modern romance drama To Dear Myself opposite Liu Shishi.^[40] In April, he began filming the spy drama The Rebel.^[41] He ranked 12th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list.^[42]

In 2021, Zhu Yilong starred in the critically acclaimed Republican Drama The Rebel, where he won the Tencent White Paper Award for Best TV drama actor. Also in 2021, Zhu Yilong sign on for a indie film about the Funeral Industry in China, in a Wuhan based production - Lighting Up The Stars. This film tells the story of an ex convict undertaker who encounters an orphan girl who changes his life. Later in 2021, Zhu Yilong starred in the disaster Movie - Cloudy Mountain, and a tribute movie to the epidemic situation in Wuhan, Embrace Again - where both films amassed a collective total box office of almost 1.4 billion RMB.

In the spring of 2022, Zhu Yilong sign on for the mystery thriller film Lost in the Stars. In the summer of 2022, Lighting Up The Stars broke 1.7 Billion RMB at the Domestic Box Office,^[43] making history in the Chinese Summer Family Film Category. Also in summer 2022 Zhu Yilong was named the ambassador for the Hundred Flower Awards Film Festival in Wuhan where he picked up an award for best actor. He won the best actor at the 2022 Changchun film festival for his performance in Embrace Again, and won Golden Rooster Awards' Best Actor for his performance in Lighting Up the Stars.^[4]

Filmography

Film

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	Confucius	孔子	Wei ambassador
2013	Love Retake	爱情不NG	Yan Jige		[14]
2016	The Nursery 3D	育婴室3D	Meng Shaohui		[44]
2017	Yang and His Summer	胡杨的夏天	Hu Yang		[45]
	Eternal Wave	密战	Cen Zimo		[22]
2019	My People, My Country	我和我的祖国	Song Leqiang	Segment: "Going Home"	[34]
2021	1921	1921	Zhou Enlai		[46]
	Cloudy Mountain	峰爆	Hong Yizhou		[47]
	Embrace Again	穿过寒冬拥抱你	Ye Ziyang		[48]
2022	Lighting Up The Stars	人生大事	Mo Sanmei		[49]
	Lost in the Stars	消失的她	He Fei		[50]
2023	The Volunteers: To the War	志愿军：雄兵出击	Li Xiang	End credits cameo
	Only the River Flows	河边的错误	Ma Zhe		[51]
2024	Land of Broken Hearts	负负得正	Huang Zhenkai
	The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death	志愿军：存亡之战	Li Xiang

Television series

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2011	Fanjingshan Story	风雨梵净山	Sun Rubo		[13]
2012	Wang Yang Ming	王阳明	Zhu Houzhao
	Weird Doctor Wen Sankuai	怪医文三块	Hai Dongshen
2014	Family Banquet	家宴	Feng Douzi		[52]
	Love Three Lives	情定三生	Chi Rui		[15]
2015	The Legend of Mi Yue	芈月传	Ying Ji		[17]
2016	The Shaw Eleven Lang	新萧十一郎	Lian Chengbi		[18]
	My Love to Tell You	我的爱对你说	Fan Wei		[53]
	Border Town Prodigal	新边城浪子	Fu Hongxue		[20]
2017	Royal Sister Returns	御姐归来	He Kaixin		[21]
	As Flowers Fade and Fly Across the Sky	花谢花飞花满天	Hua Wuxie		[54]
2018	Guardian	镇魂	Shen Wei / Black Robe Envoy / Ye Zun		[24]
	Granting You a Dreamlike Life	许你浮生若梦	Luo Fusheng / Cheng Musheng / Luo Qingeng		[55]
	The Story of Minglan	知否？知否？应是绿肥红瘦	Qi Heng		[28]
2019	Skynet Action	天网行动	Pang Jia[a]		[56]
	My True Friend	我的真朋友	Jing Ran		[32]
2020	Reunion: The Sound of the Providence	重启之极海听雷	Wu Xie	Season 1–2	[37]
	To Dear Myself	亲爱的自己	Chen Yiming		[40]
2021	The Rebel	叛逆者	Lin Nansheng		[41]
	Crossroad Bistro	北辙南辕	Lu Wei	Cameo	[57]

Short film

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	Night Lord	夜郎	Yang Zhong	Special Mentioned, FIPRESCI, Hong Kong International Film Festival 2010
2011	Legend of the Daming Palace	大明宫传奇	General Junshi		[12]
2018	Clown	丑	Chou	Short film	[58]
2019	Youthful China in the Headlines	头条里的青春中国	Deng Jiaxia	Short film	[59]
	Save the Black Rhino	看不见的黑犀牛	Himself	by World Wild Fund
	Tracking of Wild Giant Panda	大熊猫追踪之旅	Himself	by World Wild Fund
2021	Along the Elephants' Wrinkles	沿着大象的纹路	Himself	by World Wild Fund
2022	Biodiversity in Baima Jokul National Natural Reserve	山海生万物	Himself	by World Wild Fund

Television film

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Ref.
2009	Another Lifetime of Fate	再生缘	Ruan Ying
	Snatched Bride	抢来的新娘	Xiao Ziwei
	Bloody Mansion	血色深宅	Xue Zimei
	Blood Jade Curse	血玉咒	Zhou Yubai
2010	Treasure Hunting	宝藏寻踪	Shangguan Yunfeng
	Da Ming Pin Fei Series	大明嫔妃系列	Zhu Changxun	[11]
	Wrong Marriage	错嫁	Shen Fang
	Terror Eyes	胭脂劫	Ye Cang
	Shen Gui Si Yun	深闺疑云	He Tianyu
2011	Jue Mi Shi Ming	绝密使命	Jin Tiexin
	Cinderella	灰姑娘	Luo Huaifeng	[60]
	Ci Fei	刺妃	Ye Fan
	The White Fox Spirit	白狐仙	Yu Yihong	[61]
	Duo Er War	朵儿的战争	Mai He	[62]
	Shen Shi Da Dao	绅士大盗	Wu Xundong	[63]
	The Gates of Hell	鬼门关	Gong Tiexin	[64]
	San Ye Ren	猎野人	Ye Ren	[65]
2012	Zhan Di Qing Tian	战地情天	Jin Feiyu
	Tou Kui Zhe	偷窥者	Jiang Xinbai	[66]
	Sha Ji Si Fu	杀机四伏	Tan Wei	[67]
	Gu Le Qing Chun	鼓乐青春	Lin Feng
2015	Following Your Heart	贴着你的心跳	Xie Yuhang

Music video

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role
2009	"Love Rotate"	爱转移	Yan Chubin
	"Angel's Song"	天使之歌	Yan Chubin

Discography

Year	English title	Chinese title	Album	Notes/Ref.
2014	"Eternal Star"	恒星	Love Three Lives OST	[68]
2016	"I Will Wait"	我会等	The Nursery OST	[69]
2017	"Crazy Love"	疯狂的爱	Royal Sister Returns OST	[70]
2018	"Flight of Time"	时间飞行	Guardian OST	with Bai Yu[71]
	"Earth Star Meets Sea Star"	地星撞海星
	"Granting You a Dreamlike Life"	许你浮生若梦	Granting You a Dreamlike Life OST	with An Yuexi
	"Where Dreams Begin"	梦开始的地方		Charity song for 人人都是志愿者 campaign
2019	"Youth Rave It Up"	青春跃起来		Performance for CCTV Spring Gala with Li Yifeng[31]
	"Dragon Text"	龙文		with Dong Wenhua[72]
	"The Light Upwards"	向上的光		Theme song of 中国Young project
	"My Motherland and I"	我和我的祖国	My People My Country OST	with Chen Feiyu, Liu Haoran, Ou Hao & Zhou Dongyu
	"Romance Between Mountain and Water"	山水相恋		with Jiang Shuying
2020	"Hello 2020"	你好2020		Performance for CCTV Spring Gala with Li Xian, Li Qin, Ma Sichun & Zhou Dongyu[73]
	"Wuhan, How Are You"	武汉，你好吗		Support song for fighting SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan[74]
	"Reboot"	重启	Reunion: The Sound of the Providence OST
	"Iron Triangle"	铁三角		with Huang Junjie & Chen Minghao
	"Jumping Downward"	往下跳
	"Dear myself"	亲爱的自己	To Dear Myself	With Keyso
	"Dear you"	亲爱的你
2021	"The Rebel"	叛逆者	The Rebel OST

Bibliography

Year	English title	Chinese title	Notes/Ref.
2019	Depart	出发	[75]

Other activities

In 2018, Zhu was named the ambassador for the China-Australia Tourism Promotion.^[76]

In 2018, Zhu was named the ambassador for the inaugural Hainan Island International Film Festival.^[77]

In 2019, it was announced that Madame Tussauds Shanghai and Madame Tussauds Hong Kong would each display a different wax figure of Zhu.^[78] The first wax figure was officially displayed at Madame Tussauds Shanghai on 20 Dec 2019.^[79] The second wax figure was being officially displayed at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong on 20 Oct 2021. ^[80]

In 2019, Zhu was appointed the WWF Ambassador for Global Wildlife Crime Campaign to call on public to reduce the demand for ivory and other endangered species’ products.^[81]

In January 2020 he donated $150,000 to fight COVID-19 in his hometown of Wuhan. ^[82]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Results	Ref.
2015	Asian Influence Awards Oriental Ceremony	Most Promising Actor	Love Three Lives	Won	[16]
2017	13th TV Drama South Awarding Ceremony	Best Supporting Actor	The Shaw Eleven Lang	Won	[19]
	InStyle iLady Icon Awards	Trending Actor of the Year	—	Won	[83]
2018	14th TV Drama South Awarding Ceremony	Male Lead of the Year	Border Town Prodigal	Won	[84]
	Weibo Movie Awards Ceremony	Popularity Award	—	Won	[26]
	Q China Music Awards	Most Popular Crossover Singer	—	Won	[85]
		Most Popular Soundtrack	"Flight of Time"	Won
	15th Esquire Man At His Best Awards	Most Promising Actor	—	Won	[86]
	Powerstar Award Ceremony	Most Influential Actor	—	Won	[87]
	10th China TV Drama Awards	Charismatic Young Actor	Guardian	Won	[88]
2019	Film and TV Role Model 2018 Ranking	Actor of the Year		Won	[89]
	Weibo Awards Ceremony	Weibo God Award	—	Won	[90]
	Hubei Internet Summit	Person of the Year	—	Won	[91]
	4th China Quality Television Drama Ceremony	Sina Weibo Most Talked About Celebrity Online	—	Won	[92]
		Most Commercially Valuable Star	—	Won
	25th Shanghai Television Festival	Best Supporting Actor	The Story of Minglan	Nominated	[30]
	4th Golden Spider Academic Award	Best Actor	Guardian	Won	[93]
		Most Popular Actor		Won
	GQ 2019 Men of the Year	Goodwill Ambassador	—	Won	[94]
	24th Asian Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor	My True Friend	Nominated	[33]
	Golden Bud - The Fourth Network Film And Television Festival	Best Actor	The Story of Minglan, My True Friend	Nominated	[95]
	6th The Actors of China Award Ceremony	Best Actor (Emerald Category)		Won	[35]
	China Movie Channel (CCTV-6) M List	Most Promising Actor	My People, My Country	Nominated
	Powerstar Awards Ceremony	Most Popular Chinese Actor	—	Won	[96]
2020	China Literature Awards Ceremony	Quality Actor of the Year	—	Won	[97]
	30th China TV Golden Eagle Award	Audience's Choice for Actor	—	Nominated	[98]
	China News Weekly Influential People Award	Performing Artist of the Year	—	Won	[citation needed]
	iQiyi All-Star Carnival	Quality Actor Of the Year	Reunion: The Sound of the Providence	Won
	Jinri Toutiao Awards Ceremony	Most Noticed Actor		Won
	Film and TV Role Model 2019 Ranking	Most Popular Supporting Actor	The Story of Minglan	Won
2021	Film and TV Role Model 2020 Ranking	Most Popular Leading Actor	Reunion: The Sound of the Providence	Won
	Weibo Movie Awards Ceremony	Expressive Actor of the Year		Won	[99]
2022	Weibo Movie Awards Ceremony	Remarkable Actor of the Year		Won	[100]
	Golden Deer, 17th Changchun Film Festival	Best Actor	Embrace Again	Won	[101]
	Peony Award, 32nd Zhejiang TV Award	Best Actor	The Rebel	Won	[102]
	35th Golden Rooster Awards	Best Actor (最佳男主角)	Lighting Up the Stars	Won	[4]

Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement

Year	Publisher	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
2019	Forbes China	Celebrity 100	17th	[36]
2020			12th	[103]

Notes

1. 2012 production